Shower curtain rings have been in existence for a long time and they come in all shapes and sizes and are made from all different kinds of material. Ultimately, all of these shower curtain rings serve the same purpose of causing the shower curtain to remain in an upright and vertical position while in use, thus keeping water confined to the interior of the bathtub and providing a vertical wall between a bathtub and the rest of the bathroom environment. Over the years, various shower curtain rings having different shapes and made from different materials have been introduced into the market, but no matter what the new design is, the “newly-developed” shower curtain rings always require a user to assemble the shower curtain by either standing within the bathtub or on the edge of the bathtub, hovering over the edge of the bathtub to first line up the apertures in the shower curtain, then threading the shower curtain rings through the apertures, and then securing the shower curtain rings holding the shower curtain to the shower curtain rod. In short, whenever a user is setting up a shower curtain over a bathtub, he or she inevitably, through conventional shower curtain rings, must complete hanging the shower curtain by attaching the assembly of the shower curtain rings first to the shower curtain then to the rod. Contrary to the known conventional shower curtain rings, the fastening device of the present invention can be utilized anywhere without requiring the user to stand over the bathtub when installing a shower curtain. Thus, a user can leisurely attach each individual fastening device first to a sheet material, such as a shower curtain, by placing each of the apertures of the shower curtain between the extending member and the recess of the attachment means and locking the sheet material in place by forcing the extending member into the recess. This is repeated until all the apertures of the shower curtain are connected to the fastening device of the present invention. Once the fastening devices are secured to the shower curtain, a user can assemble the shower curtain by hanging each of the fastening devices to a rod. Furthermore, the attachment means of the present invention is optionally rotatable, thus, during shipping the coupling means parallel the attachment means, and when in use the coupling means are perpendicular to the attachment means. Moreover, the coupling means end of the fastening device is capable of independent movement from the attachment means.
With respect to shower curtain rings, reference is made to the following:
Cheng, U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,597 B1 issued Feb. 20, 2001, relates to a hanger ring assembly for a curtain. More specifically, it relates to a curtain with a hanger ring assembly for mounting onto a supporting rod which includes a sheet material and a plurality of hanger units. The sheet material has a plurality of hanger openings formed along a top edge, and a plurality of edge gap each extending from the top edge to an upper portion of the respective hanger opening. Each of the opening portions defines a section of connecting tab adjacent to the respective edge gap. Each of the hanger units includes a hanger ring which has a ring slit separating two ends thereof and defines a section of ring tab adjacent to the ring slit. Each of the hanger rings is attached to one side of the respective opening portion and coaxially extended around the respective hanger opening with the ring slit of the respective hanger ring staggering with the edge gap of the respective opening portion. The connecting tabs of the opening portions of the sheet material are detachably overlapped with the ring tabs of the hanger rings respectively. Each of the hanger units further includes a connecting device for selectively connecting each of the ring tabs with the respective connecting tabs. Thus, the hanger ring assembly according to Cheng attached a curtain directly to a supporting rod without any connectors.
Klotz, U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,672 issued May 30, 2000, relates to a shower curtain closure assembly for semi-permanent securement of an edge of a curtain to a wall of a shower enclosure. The closure assembly includes a clamping structure which comprises a mounting bar for permanent securement to a wall of a shower enclosure. The mounting bar includes a wall attachment surface for attachment to a wall of a shower enclosure and a first clamping surface. The mounting bar further includes a plurality of first fastener receiving holes. Supported on the mounting bar is an adjustable clamp including a second clamping surface which is disposed adjacent to the first clamping surface. The adjustable clamp includes a plurality of second fastener receiving holes. The first fastener receiving holes of the mounting bar are aligned with the second fastener receiving holes of the adjustable clamp. A plurality of threaded fasteners are disposed such that a threaded fastener engages each of the aligned first and second holes for securing the adjustable clamp to the mounting bar. A first curtain edge is disposed between the first and second clamping surfaces. The fasteners may be selectively tightened from a first position where the adjustable clamp is loosely secured to the first clamping surface such that the first curtain edge may be easily disposed between the first and second clamping surfaces, to a second waterproof position where the fastener is under tension and applies a compressive clamping force on the first and second clamping surfaces as well as the intervening first curtain edge. The compressive clamping applied to the first curtain edge by the fastener in the second position exceeds the shear strength of the curtain such that a force which exceeds the shear strength of the curtain applied to the curtain first edge will result in the tearing of the curtain before the release of the edge of the curtain from the position between the first and second clamping surfaces.
Eberhardt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,642 issued Apr. 20, 1999, relates to a hook and loop hanger for a shower curtain and a liner. More specifically, it relates to a flexible elongated combination shower curtain and liner hanger device with reinforced apertures in an upper region for hanging the hanger element from a shower rod by hooks. The lower region of the hanger device has loop strips in both sides for fastening of the shower curtain and the shower liner to a horizontal rod by hook strips on their upper edges. The hanger device can be clear or colored to match the color of the shower curtain and shower liner.
Herrera, U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,954 issued Aug. 4, 1998, relates to a shower curtain ring whereby each ring includes a body member that encircles the shower curtain rod, the body member having a first end and a second end; a first end locking member which is attached to the first end of the body member and includes a male locking protrusion, where the male locking protrusion comprises a central body portion and a horizontal bar having an enlarged outer tip, the horizontal bar being attached to the central body portion; and a second end locking member which is attached to the second end of the body member and includes a female locking receptacle, the female locking receptacle being adapted to receive and hold the male locking protrusion. The upper edge of the shower curtain is held between the male locking protrusion and the female locking receptacle of each shower curtain ring, whereby the curtain is deformed and held between the male locking protrusion and the female locking receptacle without any part of the shower curtain ring passing through the shower curtain.
Steiner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,504 issued Jun. 3, 1998, relates to a shower curtain rib apparatus for use with a conventional bathtub shower curtain which prevents the curtain from being drawn into the shower enclosure when the shower is in use. The apparatus has a plurality of semi-rigid ribs which are vertically oriented and connected to the shower curtain rod. The lower end of the ribs are secured to the tub and the outer surface of the curtain is secured to the ribs, thus preventing the curtain from moving inward. By securing the ribs so that they bow outward, the shower enclosure can be enlarged.
Perez, U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,407 issued Jul. 29, 1997, relates to a shower curtain loop that is permanently attached to the shower curtain on one side, preferably by stitching. The other end of the loop fastens to the curtain with hook and loop fasteners, which facilitate the removal of the curtain and loops from a shower curtain rod. The loop is reinforced with a rigid, flexible member which runs along the length of the loop. This member, which is preferably made of plastic, provides rigidity to the loop so that the loop can easily traverse a curtain rod when the curtain is opened or closed.
Bindman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,742 issued Nov. 29, 1994, relates to a click-lock ring for use in hanging shower curtains designed in the form of a split ring wherein one end of the split ring contains a stepped anchoring recess formed from two cooperating lateral openings for receiving a locking head formed at the other end of the split ring. The ring is produced by injection molding a flexible plastic material in a cam-free mold.
Schechter et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,551 issued Oct. 18, 1994, relates to a scent-releasing shower curtain ring. More specifically, it relates to a curtain ring having a fragrance-releasing material mounted on its inner diameter. The material is selected so that the fragrance will only be released when the consumer opens or closes the curtain, that is, only when the material is rubbed against the curtain rod.
Angerman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,884 issued Aug. 23, 1994, relates to a shower curtain ring which has a flexible body adapted to encircle a curtain rod and close by frictionally interengaging end members. One of the end members includes an elongated part which is received through an opening along the top edge of the curtain. A flange on the end of the elongated part retains the curtain even when the end members are not engaged.
Bindman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,052 issued May 10, 1994, relates to a shower curtain ring package. More specifically, it relates to a unitary totally transparent package of shower curtain rings comprising a stack of ring-like articles, each of which articles has at least one predetermined discontinuity therein, said discontinuities being aligned one with the other in a manner whereby each of the articles in the stack is congruently aligned with the other; a cylindrical transparent PVC cap element disposed tightly over the uppermost ring-like article in intimate contact therewith; an elongated tubular transparent polyvinyl chloride plastic sleeve enveloping the stack of rings from top to bottom and being shrunken into intimate contract with the outer surfaces of each of said rings and said cap to provide a package having a corrugated appearance and providing visual access to the inner and outer portions of said entire stack of rings.
Irizarry, U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,422 issued Sept. 11, 1990, relates to a shower curtain operating mechanism for opening and closing a shower curtain without grabbing on the curtain material. A pull cord system is incorporated into a conventional shower curtain assembly so that the curtain can be opened or closed with minimum stress on the curtain material.
Each of these patents provides a method of attaching a shower curtain to a rod or securing the shower curtain to the bathtub or inner wall of the bathtub. However, none of these patents claims or discloses, teaches or suggests an apparatus capable of attaching the shower curtain to a rod without having the user have to assemble the connection between the shower curtain and the shower curtain ring and then the shower curtain ring to the shower curtain rod all in one setting while standing on the edge of the bathtub.
Thus, it is believed that heretofore the present invention has not been taught or suggested.